10/16/2008
Rice students rally in light of Ike to express thanks while fundraising
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COURTESY PHOTO
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Members of Rice's international community and the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) handed out giant thank-you cards this week to several divisions of Rice, expressing their gratitude for the hard work that kept the campus going during and after Hurricane Ike.
The cards -- presented to Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman, Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Paula Sanders and personnel from Housing and Dining, and Facilities, Engineering and Planning (FE&P) -- were filled with expressions of thanks written in a medley of colors and languages. More than 40 countries were represented in the messages from international students and scholars and their families and friends.
To sign the card, members of Rice's international community each donated $1 or more to an OISS fundraiser to benefit the victims of Ike through the Houston Food Bank. In two weeks, OISS raised more than $2,500.
"With some matching funds from anonymous donors -- and because each dollar donated to the food bank equates to about $20 worth of food -- the Rice community was able to provide the equivalent of more than $50,000 worth of food to the Houston Food Bank," said Adria Baker, executive director of OISS.
"Throughout the week, exclamations of gratitude could be heard while students were writing their thank-you notes," she said. "The amount of genuine appreciation was undeniable in the eyes of these students."
Above, representatives from FE&P accept a thank-you card and gift basket. From left are Su Yeon Yoo, Vanessa Pena, Sandra Bloem-Curtis, Lily Lam and Cory Owen, all of OISS; Russell Price, FE&P; Adria Baker, OISS; and Barbara White Bryson, Doug Tomlinson and Richard Stearman, all of FE&P.
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